Below is my letter to the new mayor of Sokołów on how to commemorate the Jewish community of Sokołów.
1. Matzevot from Szewskiego Rynek
In 2011, I publicized the issue of matzevot that were part of the terrace at Szewski Rynek. The plaster covering some of these tombstones had fallen off and Hebrew inscriptions could be seen. The town authorities responded by covering the visible fragments of the matzevot.
[here I posted my correspondence with the then mayor of the town. I won't mention it, especially since it had no positive effect]
In 2013, the matzevot were removed from the terrace at Szewski Rynek during renovation.
Currently, it is not known what is happening to the matzevot, where they are and when they will return to the Jewish cemetery.
Proposed solution:
Finding and inventorying tombstones. Additionally, it would be necessary to find tombstones from the former museum of Mr. Marian Pietrzak - they ended up in the palace in Sterdyń and the museum planned there, there is no information on what happens to them in the event of the bailiff's seizure of this facility.
Then, using these tombstones, it would be necessary to build a commemoration on the so-called new Jewish cemetery - on the road to Bartos. This area is owned by the State Treasury.
Examples of such implementations:
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| Dąbie |
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| Gorlice |
It should be taken into account that there is no possibility of disturbing the ground in the cemetery (no digging is possible). The matzevot should be read and the plaques with translations should be placed next to the matzevot.
2. Correcting errors on the plaque at the old Jewish cemetery and changing the current name of this place
The plaque on the monument located in the old Jewish cemetery contains two basic errors:
- the date of liquidation of the ghetto was set at October 10, 1942, but in fact it was September 22, 1942;
- it says that in 1939 almost 4,000 Jews lived in Sokołów. In fact there were about 6,000.
The old Jewish cemetery is now called Polish Red Cross Park, which may be perceived as an element directed against the Jewish community. The cross was a frequent motif of anti-Semitic activities - also in the former Lublin Voivodeship, to which pre-war Sokołów belonged.
The proposed name should be neutral or directly related to the Jewish community. Since there is no building at this address, you may want to consider calling it simply "Jewish Cemetery" or "Old Jewish Cemetery."
3. Official town commemoration of the anniversary of the liquidation of the ghetto on September 22
In 2011, I organized the first ceremony in the history of the town commemorating the anniversary of the liquidation of the ghetto. It was attended by descendants of Sokołów Jews, Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Israeli ambassador Zvi Rav Ner, the mayor, his deputy and residents. However, the town authorities were unfavorable towards similar projects. Despite this, I organized the ceremony every year.
If the Municipal Office was considering organizing further anniversaries, it is worth taking into account the following aspects:
- this initiative can show Sokołów as a town open to multiculturalism, which can support the town's brand in the tourist context,
- the ceremony should have a dignified course that would take into account the sensitivity of the representatives of Sokołów's Jews if they wanted to take part in it in the future; this means no use of entertainment elements, focusing on the Jewish victims of the liquidation of the ghetto (it is worth mentioning specific names - you can tell the story of a different person or family every year), and not on Poles who saved Jews (especially since during the liquidation of the ghetto this kind of help did not took place); Polish aid existed, but it is a separate story that can be commemorated on another day and should not be combined,
- talking about Jews as citizens of the same town, not "strangers"; half of the pre-war Town Council consisted of representatives of the Jewish community, Jews ran their shops and craft workshops in Sokołów, and organized cultural and political life; were active members of the Sokołów community,
- if such an opportunity arises, it is worth organizing meetings between students and descendants of Sokołów Jews; Hearing the family story from its representative can be an interesting lesson for young people and an opportunity to break down possible stereotypes. In this case, it is also necessary to prepare teachers to better understand local history and the Jewish perspective on mutual relations.
4. Publication of the translation of the Sokolow Memorial Book
In 2017, the Gsharim Foundation, which I ran, received a grant from the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute for the translation from Yiddish into Polish of the Memorial Book written by Peretz Granatsztejn, born March 7, 1907 in Sokołów Podlaski, in a pious Jewish family. The book "Sokołów - my ruined town" was the first in a series of books we translated.
The next ones are: "In the Shadow of Treblinka" by Simcha Polakiewicz, "A Day in Treblinka" by the same author, "People from the Past" by Peretz Granatsztejn and the Memorial Book, which has over 700 pages and was edited by M. Gelbart.
All of them can be found at https://sokolow.jewish.pl/
In 2023, Polakiewicz's double book - "In the shadow of Treblinka" was published by Austeria. This is a revised and better edited version compared to the online version.
The town may consider publishing Granatsztejn's books and (perhaps above all) the Sokołów Memorial Book. I own the copyright to the Polish translation and I can make this translation available for printing without compensation.
5. Mass grave behind the Piekna street
Behind the Piękna Street there is a mass grave in which the Germans buried the last Jews of Sokołów. The exact number of victims is unknown. After the war, the surviving Jews from Sokołów placed a concrete slab in this place. Years later, someone added a small plate with the inscription "To the victims of fascism".
Nowadays, the place was sold to a private person who built a single-family house on it. Currently, access to the slab commemorating the mass grave is much more difficult.
Photo taken by me in 2010.
The clean-up campaign I organized in 2010.
Proposed solution:
Dialogue with the owners of the place is necessary to determine possible access to the plaque commemorating the mass grave and to take this place under the care of the town's office (cleaning, care, placing an information board, possibility of organizing commemorative ceremonies).
6. Anti-Semitic drawing at Stacja Sokołów
At Stacja Sokołów, tourists can watch a film about, among others: about the town's multiculturalism. The fragment about Jewish inhabitants is illustrated with a painting showing Orthodox Jews with long beards, in fur hats, counting money. One of them puts the coins on a small scale, the second writes down the results of this weighing, the third shows a gesture of acceptance with his hand, the fourth looks at it from behind the other's shoulder. There is also a Jewish boy who looks at this scene, probably learning his future trade.
The graphic is not accompanied with any critical information and explanation. While this information is not provided in the film, but the lithograph in question, titled "Speculation at a speed: or commercial cooperation (in Warsaw)" by Jan Feliks Piwarski, was created in 1841. This drawing presents Jews in a stereotypical and anti-Semitic way, as traders, schemers, people focused on money and making it. Placing it in a place intended for tourists is simply irresponsible. Additionally, the Sokołów Station is visited by children from nearby schools, which means that they will perpetuate stereotypical ideas about the Jewish community that once lived in Sokołów.
I suggest replacing there a more appropriate drawing and providing the Station's employees with training to help avoid similar mistakes in the future.
7. Stolpersteine
Since the 1990s in Germany, and then in other countries, the so-called Stolpersteine – memorial stones are placed in paving slabs. They commemorate Jews who lived on a given street and were murdered during World War II. The author of the stones is Gunter Demnig https://www.stolpersteine.eu/en/home
Stolperstein in Biała Podlaska, photo: Christian Michelides, CC BY-SA 4.0
The stones contain short information: name and surname, date of birth and circumstances and date of death. They are small in size. They have both their supporters and opponents. The former emphasize the relative ease of such commemoration and drawing attention to the fact that Jews lived in a given town, of whom there is often no other trace. The descendants of such Jews often fund the installation of the stones themselves.
Opponents of the project emphasize that placing the commemoration on the sidewalks is not dignified enough.
In Poland, the Institute of National Remembrance does not always consent to the installation of Stolpersteine, claiming that there is no information on them about who was the perpetrator of the Holocaust.
It is worth considering installing several such stones in Sokołów. This must be done in cooperation with the author of Stolpersteine, for copyright reasons.
